PHIL BARDSLEY reckons his old boss Sir Alex Ferguson has made a rare mistake by letting Wes Brown join Sunderland.

But Man United’s loss looks set to be Sund-erland’s gain after Brown turned in a man of the match performance in the Black Cats’ 1-1 opening day draw at Liverpool.

Brown joined Sunder-land for a bargain £1m over the summer, which saw him reunited with his former Old Trafford team-mate Bardsley on Wearside.

And fellow defender Bardsley believes the 31-year-old’s experience and quality will be a huge asset, assuming Brown can steer clear of the injuries that marred his final years with the Red Devils.

“Sir Alex makes some decisions and this one has come in favour of us because if Wes plays like that, he’s up there as one of the best centre-halves in the country,” said Bardsley.

“I’ve played with him before and I know what he can do. When he plays like he did on Saturday, he’s top class. He’s got unbelievable composure and in the air he wins everything.

“We’ve just got to keep him on the pitch. He’s had a few injuries in the past, but he’s made a tremendous start.”

Sunderland recovered from a poor start at Anfield – in which they conceded a penalty inside the first five minutes, could have been reduced to 10 men and then fell behind to a Luis Suarez goal – to claim a deserved point thanks to a mag-nificent debut goal from summer signing Seb Larsson just before the hour.

Bardsley said: “Liver-pool were going to come out of the blocks because they were at home and they’d brought new players in. But in all honesty, I thought we dealt with it well.

“I think we deserved a point, I thought the second half was terrific.”

The result means that the Black Cats will go into this weekend’s Wear-Tyne derby in confident mood.